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Alicia Wanstall-Burke

Forfatter af Blood of Heirs (The Coraidic Sagas Book 1)

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Yet another SPFBO5 book completed! Yes!

For better or worse, Blood of Heirs shares a lot of similarities with the SPFBO4 finalist book The Gods of Men. Both books have two separate storylines of both a male and female teenager from separate countries where their medieval societies execute anyone who is born with the innate ability to use magic. In both cases, one of the two characters accidentally develops magic against their will and their nobility status is not a sufficient deterrent from being force to flee their homes in order to avoid getting executed for a crime they never intended to commit.

Beyond that, both books start to differ. Whereas in the Gods of Men the two characters bump into each other without knowing the secret identities of the other, Ranoth and Lidan never meet each other during the course of this book. It is possible their stories will collide into one in a sequel though.

One thing that struck me very strongly about this book is the fact that while the world building and prose is great, I ultimately preferred Prince Ranoth's story much more than Lidan. His story is delved into greater urgency because we not only meet him during a losing battle in the front, ultimately to watch him flee for his life when his family discovers he can now use magic, most of Lidan's story on the other hand seems rather mundane by comparison. Most of her story revolves in how she wishes her domineering mother Sellan would give her permission to train as a hunter/protector known as a Ranger instead of choosing the most suitable husband to ensure her daughter's inheritance as the clan leader's oldest daughter. Sure, tension is high during Lidan's tale, but her story is usually 90% crying because her mom slapped her in the face in order to stop acting like a spoiled brat mingled with a mixture of self-pity, lack of initiative, and scared out of her wits when rangers succumb on the front gate of her village with infected sword wounds after fighting fruitlessly against a new threat to their lands: the fearful ngaru.

I am probably being way too harsh on poor Lidan because in essence, she is only 12 years old and has lived an awfully sheltered life babysitting her 9 younger sisters and hiding from her mom in the village forge or watchtower. However, I do believe at times, her character seemed to ebb and wane back and forth between one moment of wishing to use the arrow and ride her horse with the bravado of any young male adult who wants to prove themselves in the battlefield, and a scared little girl when she gets a very mild verbal reprimand for getting her dress covered in mud. Most of the book she is biting her lips until they bleed and trying not to barf at even the most menial of problems of any sort, but she doesn't even flinch when she uses her knives on another human being in self-defense, only to cry like a puppy when a drop of rain falls on her face a few scenes later. Ran's character on the other hand, tries to remain consistent throughout his far more difficult ordeal, and I liked him instantly.

All in all, the story is definitely good and I had no idea where it was heading most of the time. I will definitely read the sequels!

PS: In the 65% of the novel, soliders was misspelled as soliders.
… (mere)
 
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chirikosan | 1 anden anmeldelse | Jul 24, 2023 |
 
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otkac001 | 1 anden anmeldelse | Jan 20, 2019 |

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Værker
5
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42
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#357,757
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3.8
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2
ISBN
7